Helping Students Prepare for the Final Exam

As I've watched students come in and out of their oral exams this week, I've been considering ways we can help them feel prepared on test day - both linguistically and emotionally. Here are some ideas for future semesters, to help all students feel ready to do their best on the final exam:

1. Our exams are performance based, so as long as students can show what they know, they are likely to do well. As a tip before students go into the exam, I've been reminding them that whatever they can say in the target language earns them points - even if it is to ask the examiner to repeat something. Their main objective is simply to keep the conversation going in the target language. The more practice they have doing this in class, the more natural it will feel during the exam. So, make them speak the target language in class - even just to say 'what?' or 'could you repeat that?' They may not like it at first, but it will help on test day.

2. Just like the oral proficiency exam given by ACTFL, our oral exams are meant to determine how well our students can express themselves in their new language. Accuracy is important, but far more important is their ability to express ideas - even if they make some mistakes. Here is the advice that ACTFL gives to students about to take their oral proficiency exam, and it is good advice for our students too:

When taking the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), listen carefully to the questions asked by the interviewer before answering. When answering, give as detailed a response as possible. Saying little to avoid making mistakes will not improve your rating. If you do not know a specific term in the target language, describe it and try to avoid making up words. (If you do not use the tested language or a slang term, do not be surprised if the interviewer asks you to describe what that word means in the target language).

3. Being able to guess meaning from context is an important skill for beginning students. They are unlikely to understand every single word said to them in the language of study, but can they catch enough to understand the overall idea? Let them practice this skill during class by not always acting as a human dictionary. If a student asks what a word means, see if they can figure it out for themselves, based on what they do know. Some educated guessing can earn big points on an exam.

4. Remind them to leave nothing blank. If they only know one word on a written exam question, they should take a guess at that question's meaning and answer anyway. Better to try for the partial credit, and they just might know more than they realize.

Is there anything else we all should be doing to help students prepare? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

And finally, happy last day of the Spring 2011 semester! Congratulations on a great job, despite the occasional weather-induced chaos! Have a happy summer, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all this fall.

Five-Minute Conversations and Mock Exams

Final exams are just around the corner, and most of our students have just six more class periods in which to prepare for the big day. In these last few classes, they should be in high-gear - drilling their speaking abilities non-stop. Here are a couple of ways to help students feel prepared:

Five-Minute Conversations:
Remind students that the most important thing in the oral exam is to be able to express their ideas in the target language without resorting to English. If they can chat about the topics covered throughout the semester in the language of study, they'll do well on the oral exam. One way to help them fell prepared is to do a quick brain-storm of the topics covered (introductions, classes, family, vacation and weekend plans, giving directions, weather expressions, etc.), and then having students pair-up. Put five minutes on a timer, and then have the pairs of students talk about anything they want in the target language - without any English. Don't let them look-up words or ask you for vocabulary- they won't be able to on the test. Don't stop them or correct their mistakes during the five minutes of conversation, but do take notes. When the five minutes are over, point out some things that you heard that were good, and the most common mistakes. Then have students find a new partner, and have another five-minute timed conversation. You can do this drill a couple of times each class period from now until test time, keeping the drills fun and fast-paced. Encourage students to do these practices together outside of class as well.


Mock Exams:
Sometimes it helps students feel calm on test day if they have a good sense of what will happen. Particularly for our 1001 students, the final exam can seem a bit daunting, and it helps to know exactly where to go and what the procedure will be when they get there. One way to reassure students is to set-up mock exams. You can reserve the Language Lab for your class period. Then, give students a written assignment to do at the desks, like writing a pair of paragraphs or working on their study guide if the examiner has provided one. One by one, have the students come meet with you for a conversation in the language of study. Have them introduce themselves, and then talk with them in the target language about the topics studied. If they've studied giving directions, for example, ask students to tell you how to get to different places around campus. If they've studied family expressions, have them describe their family to you. Do not try to tell students what grade they should expect on the exam, even if they ask. Also, make sure they know that the content of the written practice and questions you ask are not the same as the exam. Remind them that the point of the practice is just to give them a sense of what to expect on exam day - where to go and what to do. This should help them to feel less nervous when test day rolls around.

Do you have any other ways to help your students feel confident and prepared? If so, leave them in the comments.